The past few weeks have brought another exciting round of ballet career news—check out the latest farewells, appointments, promotions, and more in your May 2026 roster roundup.
Promotions and Appointments
This month, The Australian Ballet artistic director David Hallberg promoted Davi Ramos to principal onstage following the company’s performance of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet.
San Francisco Ballet has announced several promotions, effective July 1: Alexis Francisco Valdes will move up to soloist; Rubén Cítores Nieto, Jacey Gailliard, Lucas López, and Leili Rackow to demi-soloist; and Anna Chaziroglou, Logi Gudmundsson, Logan Shaw, and Amelia Soh to the corps.
Several promotions have been announced at Boston Ballet, effective at the start of the 2026–27 season: Sangmin Lee has moved up to principal; Alexandria Heath, Emma Topalova, Schuyler Wijsen, and Alexis Workowski to second soloist; Natalia Cardona, Sophia Jones, Pavel Kulev, and Alexander Mockrish to company artist; and Jordan Crotty, Jake Marshall, and Eden Young to Boston Ballet II.
Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s Cindy Case and Brayden Page have been promoted to principal.
At Ballet Fantastique, Jenavieve Hernandez has been promoted to principal.
Boulder Ballet welcomes Ching Ching Wong as its very first resident choreographer for a three-season term.
Former Miami City Ballet principal soloist Jordan-Elizabeth Long has been named managing director of Charlottesville Ballet Academy. CBA co-founder Emily Hartka will transition from full-time director to an advisory role following a summer sabbatical.
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has appointed former Scottish Ballet principal Bethany Kingsley-Garner as director of its Young Ballet Company.
Effective August 1, Lauren Fadeley Veyette will join Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music as its new visiting associate professor in ballet.
Farewells, New Arrivals, and Guestings
After two seasons at the helm of Ballet Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, Kirsten Wicklund announced that she is stepping down from her role. Diego Ramalho separately shared his appointment as the company’s new artistic director; in a recent Instagram post, company artist Ben Waters announced that he and his fellow dancers have since resigned.
Diane Coburn Bruning, founder and longtime artistic director of Washington, DC–based Chamber Dance Project, has decided to step down following the company’s upcoming June season.
Ballet West principal Amy Potter took her final bow on April 18.
Claudia Monja, who joined Nashville Ballet in 2021, is departing the company this month.
Oregon Ballet Theatre principal Carly Wheaton has announced that she will retire at the conclusion of the 2025–26 season.
Miami City Ballet’s Mayumi Enokibara will retire from the stage in the coming weeks.
After 10 years with Orlando Ballet, Israel Zavaleta Escobedo has taken his final bow. Cielo Ibarrola will also depart; she will join Miami City Ballet at the start of the 2026–27 season.
Pacific Northwest Ballet bids farewell to longtime corps de ballet member Ryan Cardea.
Kansas City Ballet has announced the retirements of dancers Kelsey Ivana Hellebuyck, Taryn Pachciarz, and Andrew Vecseri.
Naomi Robinson and Ira White will give their final performances with Richmond Ballet during the company’s Moving Art Four: Legends program.
Texas Ballet Theater bids farewell to soloist Riley Moyano, who has been with the company for 15 years.
Oklahoma City Ballet corps dancer Kara Troester Blythe will take her final bow at the end of the company’s SHORTS program on May 10.
Ballet Idaho’s Lelo Victoria has retired from the stage.
At Alabama Ballet, Elizabeth Gamble, Jessica Nicholson, and Kyle Peterson will give their last performances this month.
Also this month, Carolina Ballet bids farewell to two longtime company members: principal Richard Krusch and soloist Lauren Wolfram.
American Repertory Ballet’s Annie Johnson has taken her final bow with the company.
Kayla DeGaray has retired after four years with Ballet Tucson.
Longtime Ballet Fantastique principal Izzy Overstreet will retire on May 10.
Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s Jenna Fritts has taken her final bow.
San Francisco Ballet welcomes new corps member Christiana de Blank, of the Royal Swedish Ballet, as well as a new cohort of apprentices: Julieta Castro, Carly Graham, Sawyer Jordan, Donghui Kim, Raúl Noyola Morales, and Luna Mae Pao.
London City Ballet welcomes the following dancers for its 2026 season: English National Ballet soloist Francesca Velicu; San Francisco Ballet corps member Hui-Wen Peng; Semperoper Ballet corps member Arthur Henderson; and Noah Cosgriff, Tatyana Meijer, Maxime Quiroga, and Ellie Young.
American Ballet Theatre’s Kyra Coco and Alejandro Valera Outlaw will perform with The Charleston Ballet as guest stars in its upcoming production of Swan Lake.
Awards and Recognitions
The nominations for the 2025 National Dance Awards have been announced. For Best Male Dancer, they include Royal Ballet principals Matthew Ball and William Bracewell, English National Ballet lead principal Gareth Haw, and London City Ballet’s Joseph Taylor; and for Best Female Dancer, the Royal principals Lauren Cuthbertson and Marianela Núñez, as well as ENB lead principal Sangeun Lee. (Full list here.)
Joburg Ballet principal Monike Cristina has won a Naledi Theatre Award in the category of Best Performance in a Dance, Physical Theatre and Ballet Production, for her work in Mario Gaglione’s Maria Callas: Prima Donna. Fellow principal Revil Yon was also nominated for his performance in the same production.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts announced that Misty Copeland will be honored alongside Andreas C. Dracopoulos, co-president of Stavros Niarchos Foundation, at Lincoln Center’s 2026 Summer Gala on June 1.
The post Your May 2026 Roster Roundup: Dancers and Directors on the Move appeared first on Pointe Magazine.